The thread of international goodwill and fellowship

As an anecdote to 30+ page long threads where we kick each others' countries down, I thought it would be nice to have a thread where we state what we like or admire about cricketing nations other than our own. The rule for the thread is that there's only positive comments - you can comment on one country, or as many as you like.

I'll start with a few:India - I love the total passion the whole country seems to share for the game, the way in which Indian fans love and bleed with their team, and I admire the players in their team for by and large retaining very level heads in the face of at times insane levels of attention and worship.

England - I admire the class with which both the English team and the English fans deal with the ups and downs of their fortunes in the sport. I don't want to make what sounds like a back handed compliment, but if all fans dealt with disappointment in as mature and good-humoured fashion as the English, this game would be even closer to heaven. I love the tradition and spirit of the game in England, the beautiful old grounds and the kinship England shares with Australia derived from 100 years of hard, but generally affectionate competition.

West Indies - I just love how the Windies play the game - the way champs like Lara and Viv bat and the way quicks like Ambrose and Marshall charged in. The game always seems more exciting and fun when the guys from the Caribbean are doing their stuff - I hope the team continues its current upswing and becomes a major power on the field in the near future.

Zimbabwe - given all the stuff that's happening in their home, I admire these guys for persisting in the game we love and for turning up - full stop!

Originally Posted by Irfan

We may not like you, your filthy rich coffers or your ratbag scum of supporters but by god do we respect you as a football team

I have found a lot of respect for bermuda lately...
Their entire population is smaller than cricket playing comunity of alot of the other nations, and the cricketers that did come put everything into getting here.
All in all top effort from them

West Indies - admire the passion for the game over there, and the matchday atmosphere. Absolutely amazing compared to some of the grounds over here which are pretty dead.

India - similar to WI, really, although I think India's passion for the game is based more around an appreciation of talent and a love of great cricket, whereas in the WI it seems to be all about enjoying the game for what it is, no matter what the standard.

Bangladesh - admire the way the fans keep going to matches even though they know their team is probably going to get battered. Takes guts and passion to do that.

I was thinking that thread was getting utterly stupid - but it's just the way it goes, CW wouldn't be CW without a thread along those lines every 6 months or so.

Anyway, here's my bash...Australia - only rarely not good at cricket, and have some great guys who post on here giving a good name to their fandom, too.Bangladesh - not international class, but I do admire some of their fans for admirable perspective.England - some guys, like me, accept the reality that England will rarely be the best for long, but do our utmost to enjoy the real successes when they come (like 1998, 2000+2000\01, 2004+2005, etc.)India - brilliant batsmen, brilliant spinners, more fans than the rest of The World put together - about 5 times the number, IIRR... Kenya - do brilliantly for such a small cricket-culture countryNew Zealand - our brothers-in-arms, with the incredible number of fans given how relatively out-populated the game is by other sports (which is the same in Britain).Pakistan - cricket just wouldn't be cricket without the soap-opera that is the Pakistan team. I just love the way most of their fans seem to enjoy the fact that they have such spectacular ups-and-downs, too.South Africa - first team I took any interest in besides England, always loved the way they play the game, and love it even better when they annoy people like Neil Pickup by being successful with it, as they do so often.Sri Lanka - for such a small island, the talent that comes out is astonishing, and they're almost always there or thereabouts, and by all accounts one of the best places to tour, too.West Indies - not dissimilar, really, with slight tweaks in various sentences.Zimbabwe - a shame, crying shame, that Robert Mugabe has ruined the entire country, with nothing spared.

In my work I sometimes visit the homes of SL, Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi people. Always enjoy it they almost always love cricket and have an opinion on everything. Always a surprise that they know so much about Aust greats such as Bradman and Trumper.

Once had a huge debate with a SL taxi driver, this was during the Murali/Hair tour, at the end of the trip he refused to take any money, saying that I was the first Australian that knew anything about cricket he had picked up

Aside from watching a competitive Ashes contest (and that's purely froma traditional perspective), I dont think it gets any better that watching India or West Indies play at home - both sets of fans are so passionate that, even on television, the atmosphere is great.

Like Archie, I love the attitude of most Indian fans to cricket - live, eat, sleep it. Walking through some of their cities and feeling the sense of anticipation, joy or disappointment is a great experience.

Australia: Every nation in the world wishes they could perform like Australia. Always tough, gritty competitors. They have pride in their performances and always fight to the end.

India: Love the likes of Tendulkar and Dravid. So classy and so damn talented. The Indian fans are the almost the mirror images of their Pakistani counterparts, so I can't help but feel kinship with them. I will support India over any other team besides Pakistan.

West Indies: The legendary cricketers this country has produced is awe inspiring. WI have most of my favorite non-Pakistani players of all time in King Viv, Sobers, Marshal, and Lara.

SA is astounding because of the sheer number of all-rounders they manage to produce. At some point, the team was batting to #9 or 10! Also good to see in the post-apartheid era that in spite of the quota system they've managed to find a balance to the team and managed to make it work to a great extent (not perfect, but acceptable). Imagine if the team had Pietersen and Strauss in it.

SA is astounding because of the sheer number of all-rounders they manage to produce. At some point, the team was batting to #9 or 10! Also good to see in the post-apartheid era that in spite of the quota system they've managed to find a balance to the team and managed to make it work to a great extent (not perfect, but acceptable). Imagine if the team had Pietersen and Strauss in it.

Imagine if the team didn't have Robbie Pieterson in it

Does that count as a positive?

Beware the lollipop of mediocrity. Lick once and you suck forever...

RIP Fardin Qayyumi, a true legend of CW

Originally Posted by Boobidy

Bradman never had to face quicks like Sharma and Irfan Pathan. He wouldn't of lasted a ball against those 2, not to mention a spinner like Sehwag.